In December 2008, Australia's storage level of wheat grain reached 15 million tonnes, an increase of 13.5 million tonnes from the previous quarter according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This dramatic rise in stocks can be attributed to the harvest period.

Of the 15 million tonnes Western Australia's bulk grain handlers had the largest store of all wheat grain at 6.1 million tonnes (42%), while the state also exported the most wheat grain (61% or 792 thousand tonnes).

In January 2009, 1.8 million tonnes of wheat grain were used nationally. Of this, 1.3 million tonnes were exported and 449 thousand tonnes were used domestically.

At the end of January 2009, 4.8 million tonnes of wheat grain were committed for use either for export or domestic use.

These data are from the second release of Wheat Use and Stocks, Australia that provides information about wheat grain stocks in the Australian economy. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) use this information to compile a monthly report on the Australian wheat industry.

As this is a new publication, the ABS would like to receive feedback in relation to the range, usefulness and quality of the statistics, see publication for further details .

More information is available in Wheat Use and Stocks, Australia, December 2008 (cat. no. 7307.0), available for free download.

When reporting on ABS data, please attribute either the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS as the source.

Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.